About

Having a sense of place is a crucial part of the human psyche. Place is where our lives happen, the stage on which our experiences play out. Although place is geographical, it is shaped by economic, social, cultural, environmental and technological domains.

Our ‘place’ in the world can significantly shape the pathways we take in life. This conference is a chance to have conversations about how we can overcome the challenges of place and make place better, particularly for vulnerable people and communities. It will also be an opportunity to showcase and learn from place based initiatives already begun.

The conference streams build on an acronym and are broadly organised around the theme of place based service delivery.Join us in helping shape our community of the future.

People – in this stream we will seek to understand particular places from the perspective of lived experience. We will also take the opportunity to acknowledge local advocates and champions, those people and providers who have assisted to develop community solutions. This includes those with significant knowledge and networks, who are trusted and endorsed by community. This can span community members, families, service providers, policy makers and researchers.

Leveraging– in this stream we will explore the junctures that have allowed actions and change to happen, where community strengths and experiences have been mobilized to make a difference in a place. This will include recalibrations that have been both planned and spontaneous, and examples of social enterprise that have contributed to building local economies and enhanced the resilience of our most vulnerable.

Aspiring – in this stream we will make space for people to think big. What are the ideas for sustainable and place-based change, and for innovations to address the challenge of embedded adversity in some places. In this stream we will ask presenters to lead us on a journey of imagining what this might look like.

Connecting – in this stream we will consider the myriad of ways we are already partnering to progress seamless and holistic service delivery. We will explore strategies for developing a culture of collaboration, shared vision and commitment, as well as contemplate some of the practical steps that have been taken to breakdown siloes and foster effective working partnerships, and establish outcomes and targets and methods to measure these. This stream will also include examples of the newer ways we are connecting and raising awareness across social media and other platforms.

Enacting – in this stream we will look at what is being and has been implemented in place. This will include consideration of the resourcing and supports needed to facilitate the delivery of place based services – what are some of the ingredients more likely to ensure success and what are some of the lessons learned. We will consider how to build in adaptability to ensure responsiveness to changing circumstances, ways to develop deeper understandings about the impact of our service provision and achieve momentum to ensure change is sustainable, and, of course, celebrate success.

We look forward to you join us in helping shape our PLACE of the future.